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PRIVATE PASSAGE.

Over the door of entrance, there is a portrait of Katharine, first Duchess of Rutland. Over the door at the opposite end, a Countess of Rutland, represented as a shepherdess, with sheep and a crook, by Sir Peter Lely. On the sides of the passage are portraits of Henry, the second; Henry, the third; John, the fourth; Roger, the fifth; Francis, the sixth; George, the seventh; and John, the eighth, Earls of Rutland.

This series of portraits, with that of the first Earl in the regent's gallery, were, without doubt, painted by the same artist, and at the same period. The labels on each are evidently contemporaneous with the painting; and the literal character of all these labels belongs to the latter end of the seventeenth century. Walpole, in his Anecdotes of Painting, mentions a John Van der Eyden, a portrait painter, of Brussels, who copied and painted draperies for Sir Peter Lely, till, marrying, he settled in Northamptonshire, where he was much employed by the Earls of Rutland and the Lord Sherard, at whose house he died in 1695, and was buried at Stapleford. In the register of burials in that parish, there is the following entry:-" 1695. Mr. Jeremiah Vanroyden was buried, Sept. 17." Walpole erroneously calls him John, and the parish register, Vanroyden; but it is impossible to mistake the person intended in both cases, or to have any doubt that Jeremiah Van der Eyden painted the series of portraits of the eight Earls of Rutland.

There are in this passage some very good plaster casts from the antique, of Homer, Demosthenes, and six others;

one of which is a cast, I believe, from the bust of Admiral Keppel, by Ceracchi.

We now pass into

THE GRAND CORRIDOR,

whose dimensions and architecture render it one of the most imposing portions of the Castle. Its erection commenced under the superintendence of Sir John Thoroton, from models taken from various parts of Lincoln cathedral. Sir John dying before its completion, his brother, the Rev. Charles Roos Thoroton, succeeded him in the accomplishment of the original plans.

Its extreme length, including the area of the staircase, and the galleries at each end, is upwards of 120 feet. Its extreme breadth, including the breaks for the windows, is nearly 24 feet. The central portion within the principal piers is floored with oak, and occasionally used for a ballroom; and when lighted up for this purpose, it must have a magnificent effect. But we must not pass through it without a more detailed observation.

The central portion is lighted by nine windows with multfoil heads, and double lights, divided by transoms. At each end of this portion of the corridor are two pointed arches, decorated with the ball flower, and supported by a central and two semi side-piers, of massive proportions, with flowered capitals. The roof is a groined vault, intersected by ribs springing from vaulting shafts between the windows, and on contrasting portions of the opposite side. A flowered boss in the centre forms a pendant for a chandelier. Above the central pier, at one end, a perforated multfoil is filled with glass, in which are stained the arms of the Duke, as knight of the garter, accompanied by the arms of Howard. In a blank multfoil, in a similar posi

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tion at the opposite end, the same arms are painted. The staircase is lighted by three windows of similar character, but with more elaborate ornaments; the sides and archivolts being deeply moulded, and decorated profusely with the ball flower and tooth ornament; as are also the double arches of the interior.

Proceeding further, we come to the gallery which communicates with the Elizabeth Saloon, the grand diningroom, and the picture gallery. This portion of the corridor is the richest specimen of all in English architecture; so abundant and varied in its details, that a mere description would not do justice to its beauties.

We now retrace our steps to the opposite end of the corridor, and enter

THE GREEN, OR ASSEMBLING ROOM,

an apartment in which the family and visitors at the Castle assemble, previous to dinner. Its dimensions (27 feet long, 24 feet wide, and 17 feet high) bring it within the class of comfortable family drawing-rooms. A bay, from which there is a magnificent prospect, extending over the lake and the village of Woolsthorpe, to Harlaxton, and the splendid mansion in the course of erection by Mr. Gregory, in one direction; across the vale and the adjoining country, to Lincoln, in another, increases the breadth of the room 7 feet. The ceiling, from which hangs a handsome chandelier, is coved. The epithet green, applied to this room, is derived from the colour of the paper, and the satin damask with which the furniture is covered. But the great charm of the room are the seven paintings by Poussin. I cannot call them "the Seven Sacraments;" for the sacrament of Penance, from some unexplained cause, is missing,

and its place supplied by a painting of the same size, by the same master, of John baptizing Christ. What was the fate of the missing picture of this incomparable series, I cannot learn. It is an irreparable loss, for which not even its splendid successor (a present from George IV. to his Grace) can compensate. It does not appear to have perished in the fire of 1816; for it is not included in the valuation of pictures burnt, which was made by Mr. Rising after that event. It is indeed altogether improbable, that one of a series of pictures, like this, should have been consumed, while the others escaped uninjured.

This series comprised the first original paintings of Poussin's Seven Sacraments. The other series, now in the Bridgewater Gallery, was painted by Poussin, at Rome, for M. Chantelon; afterwards purchased by the Regent, Philip Duke of Orleans, for 120,000 livres; and bought out of his gallery by the Duke of Bridgewater, for £700 each, or £4900. The Belvoir series was purchased for £3000. The six that remain are superior in many respects to their celebrated counterparts, especially Extreme Unction. We will now proceed to notice them in the order of the sacraments, as believed to be such by the Romish Church.

"If any shall say, that the sacraments of the new law were not all instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ; or that they are more or fewer than seven, to wit, baptism, confirmation, the eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony; or that any of these seven is not truly and properly a sacrament; let him be accursed." (Council of Trent, Session VII., A. D. 1547, Canon I.)

Baptism.-In the foreground of a pleasing landscape with water, is a group of eighteen figures. Christ, with the thumb and two fingers of the right hand, symbolizes the Trinity; while, with the left, he makes the sign of the cross on the bald head of a half-dressed figure stooping before

him, between a man kneeling and a woman standing. A female kneeling, is holding a naked child towards the Saviour. Another is approaching with a child; behind whom, a group of one old and two young women appear interested spectators. There are other figures of men, in various stages of unclothing themselves. A burley priest, (Jewish,) with blue garment and checked turban, is looking on with disapproving contempt; to whom an aged man addresses himself. The picture is injured by cleaning, and the canvas appears in various places.

Confirmation.-A bishop, in white robes, is laying his hand on a sweetly actioned child. Near him are two attendants; one with the chrism, and the other with a taper. The heads of the bishop and his attendant officials are superb, especially the two first. On the left, a female is gently urging a reluctant child to approach; upon whom another female with a child kneeling, is looking back. Two men in the extreme left, one with turban, and the other with tonsure, are in conversation. The background of the picture represents the altar and altar-piece, (the latter a painting, apparently, of the Virgin and Child,) lighted by lamps and a window over the altar; but it is notwithstanding so dark, that the eye is rivetted upon the principal figures, which, by the darkness of the background, are brought out into almost painfully prominent relief. The figures themselves are lighted in a manner not easily explained. This picture is in admirable preservation.

"If any shall say, that the confirmation of baptized persons is an idle ceremony, and not rather a true and proper sacrament; or that formerly, it was nothing more than a mere catechising, in which they who were newly grown up gave an account of their faith before the church; let him be accursed." (Council of Trent, Confirmation, Canon I.) Compare with the 25th Article, and the Homily on the Sacraments of the Anglican Church.

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